Special Counsel Robert Mueller has long been looking into Donald Trump Jr’s meeting with Russian government representatives during the election, as Donald Trump appears to have committed obstruction of justice by trying to cover up the true nature of his son’s meeting. However, based on new details from one of the people who attended the meeting, Junior could be facing criminal charges relating to bribery.Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Kremlin-connected attorney who met with Donald Trump Jr, is now offering damning new details about the meeting. Last week she confirmed that she ran her talking points past Russian President Vladimir Putin in advance, thus confirming that she was indeed acting on behalf of the Russian government. Now she claims that Trump Jr hinted that he and his father might change U.S. law in order to accommodate her.Here’s what Veselnitskaya now claims Donald Trump Jr said to her regarding the Magnitsky Act, which Russia has long sought to get repealed: “Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it.” (source: Bloomberg). This was during the same conversation in which Trump Jr asked her for secret information on Hillary Clinton which could have helped his father’s campaign. When you put these two things together, the argument can be made that one was being offered in exchange for the other, which one legal expert says could meet the legal definition of bribery.Former federal Prosector Renato Mariotti explains that “offering to exchange an official act for something of value is like soliciting a bribe.” (link). He goes on to cite a past case law against a politician which helps to frame how this could result in bribery charges against Donald Trump Jr. This is in addition to the obstruction of justice charges that Donald Trump could face for making misleading statements about his son’s meeting.

Last night an international consortium of journalists published the Paradise Papers, which included evidence that a number of members of the Donald Trump administration have secret financial ties to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Now multiple sources are suddenly pointing to anywhere from one to six resignations forthcoming and some of the names are very high profile in nature.The Paradise Papers exposed evidence that Donald Trump’s Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, his Ambassador to Russia Jon Hunstman, and others in the administration have secret financial ties to Russia, which they’ve tried to disguise along the way. Now today there are reports that both of them could resign, along with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.Here’s how political insider and MSNBC guest commentator Scott Dworkin has framed the matter today: “Ive received reports today saying DeVos, Huntsman, Ross, Sessions, Tillerson & Zinke are resigning for ties to Russia &/or for corruption.” (link). But he’s not the only source talking resignations today. The news outlet Salon is reporting today that Betsy DeVos is expected to resign due to what her allies categorize as frustration with the Secretary of Education bureaucracy (link), in what could simply be an excuse to bail on the job before things get scandalous.Jeff Sessions has been caught telling several lies about the campaign’s involvement with Russia. Ryan Zinke is caught up in the chartered flight scandal which has already led to the resignation of HHS Secretary Tom Price. Rex Tillerson has long been rumored to be on his way out, both due to his frustration on the job, and his “moron” debacle with Donald Trump. If any one of these six resignations takes place, in the context of how weak and scandalized Trump already is, it could be a bodyblow to him. If several resignations do indeed take place, it could be the ballgame.

This summer, Gary Younge took a trip from Maine to Mississippi to find out what has brought the US to this point. From the forgotten poor to desperate addicts, their whiteness is all some of them have left and that makes fertile ground for the far rightJeff Baxters enduring memory, from childhood, is the glow. Coming down over the hill overlooking the coke plant in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the molten iron would make itself known both as a vision and an aspiration. Its like the sun landed there, says Baxter, a burly, bearded retiree, who achieved his boyhood dream of becoming a steelworker.Today, the plant, like the one Baxter worked in for 30 years, stands derelict a shell that represents a hollowing out not just of the local economy but of culture and hope as though someone extinguished Baxters sun and left the place in darkness. Buildings in the centre of town that were once testament to the industrial wealth produced here stand abandoned. More than 40% of the population now live below the poverty line; 9.1% are unemployed.There is systemic racism, but black people have advocates. Poor white people dont

A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including the Queen’s private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens.
Donald Trump’s commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm dealing with Russians sanctioned by the US.
The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance.
BBC Panorama is part of nearly 100 media groups investigating the papers.

With high-ranking politicians appearing in the Paradise Papers, officials around the globe were quick to react to the leak. The EU and India have started investigations while Russian and US officials were on the defense.

With Manafort, It Really Is About Russia, Not UkraineNew York Times
Administration officials dismiss the alleged criminal activity by Mr. Manafort, formerly President Trump’s campaign chairman, as being merely about money-laundering and Ukraine but not Russia, the focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III …and more »

BERLIN (Reuters) – Immigration and climate policy are the most contentious issues in exploratory negotiations between three parties seeking to form Germany’s next government, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, adding that she wants proper talks to start in 10 days.